


Five Horsemen

by snuffyhookums



Category: Now You See Me (2013)
Genre: F/M, Other Characters Are Mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-02-18 18:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2357822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snuffyhookums/pseuds/snuffyhookums
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just when the Four Horsemen have settled into lives as fugitives with Alma and Dylan to help them, their lives are changed with new members, new tricks and new threats. Can they hold it up or will everything they worked for come crashing down, including their happy little family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Members

New Members

 

Alma relaxed against Dylan as she typed on her computer. It was their usual position when they were working however it would be the last time that they would be working on something like this for a long time. Just a few hours before, they had resigned from office and were tying up a few loose ends before they were officially unemployed. Dylan kissed the top of her head affectionately and Alma looked up at him briefly.  
His stubble was coming through again and she traced the line with her finger. Her other hand buried itself in his curly hair and pushed him down to her lips. Dylan gladly kissed her and his arms held her gently. Alma flattened her palm against his cheek and her fingers brushed the prickles that gave her goose bumps. Dylan deepened the kiss and Alma moaned softly. Dylan whispered as they broke apart:  
“Are you ready for a life of crime?”  
“Of course I am,” she whispered back and they shared a little giggle. Regretfully, they went back to their work and finally, as the Four Horsemen entered, they had finished.  
“Are you unemployed yet?” Jack asked teasingly.  
“Yep, we’re the same level as you now,” Dylan replied, pulling Alma closer again. “Just we were actually employed at some point.”  
“Is there a reason you called this meeting?” Daniel asked as he flopped down. Almost nothing about him had changed since he had first obtained his tarot card. His hair was still as dorky as ever and he still liked to pick on every little bit of a plan until it was perfect. The only different thing about him was that his arm was around Henley’s shoulders, who was in a rapid discussion with Alma about something or other.  
“Yes, I have an announcement to make. I have been contacted by the Eye and we have been given a new task,” Dylan told them and watched excitement fill their eyes. Alma already knew but that didn’t stop her getting excited. “We have a few shows to perform, a few heists to pull off and a new member.”  
The Four Horsemen looked at him with shocked expression. All four had different types of shock on their faces. Henley looked confused, Jack looked excited, Merritt was already starting to lose interest and Daniel looked … like he normally did but with a bit of shock. Alma nodded at him as the Four Horsemen got slightly used to the fact and he continued.  
“She’s called Anna Michaels and turns seventeen in two months. She is very small and can be immature which means she can very easily pass for someone younger. The Eye tested her and she proved to be among your standards so they have sent her along. Any questions?”  
“What does she look like?” Jack asked immediately.  
“Black hair, blue eyes, quite pale and, as mentioned before, very small,” Dylan described. That was all the Eye had given him. He had met her when she was younger, he had helped teach her after all, but people’s appearances change when they grow up and she had been ten at the time.  
“What does she specialise in?” Daniel asked.  
“Close up magic and manipulation, as well as above average skills in every other category.”  
Daniel nodded in acceptance although Dylan could see the wariness in his eyes. It had taken a while for him to accept him and Alma’s help in this but a whole new person could really throw him out of place. Henley looked thoughtful as her and Alma continued their conversation about who knew what and Merritt was gazing into space.  
“What is she like?” he asked finally, tilting his hat up to look at Dylan properly.  
“Well when she was ten she was quite shy with people she didn’t know, mischievous, very good at art and funny. Apparently she has just got a tiny bit bigger,” Dylan said with a shrug. “Alright, it’s nearly midnight. Time for everyone to go to bed.”  
He listened to ten minutes worth of complaining before it was just him and Alma. She was looking at him curiously as though it was the first time she had seen him. Alma walked over to him and hugged him softly. Dylan hugged her back and they danced slowly. It was only a few steps that they had learnt while at a work gala but it was enough for them.  
“Come on, we’re picking her up tomorrow in the early morning so we need to get some rest,” Dylan murmured. Alma made a noise of agreement and walked slowly up the stairs with Dylan in tow. As they settled into bed, Dylan held her softly with his hands resting on her stomach.  
“How do you think they’ll react to a new member?”


	2. New Foes

Meetings

 

Dylan sat up slowly, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Alma continued to sleep next to him and he watched her lovingly. She looked beautiful when she slept and Dylan loved to see her like this. Her hair was curling around her shoulders and a peaceful smile was gracing her lips. He silently took a picture of her before waking Alma up. She made a little snuffle noise as she opened her eyes and leaned up to kiss him.  
“So we’re getting Anna today?” she asked casually as if it were something simple. Dylan nodded and they slowly got ready. It was a short drive to airport and soon they were looking for the young woman who would be part of their team. Alma had seen a picture of her from Dylan when she was ten and was looking for someone who looked vaguely like that. Dylan was looking for someone who looked exactly like that.  
Suddenly a head of raven hair popped into existence and Dylan led Alma towards her. Anna was taller than Dylan could imagine but she was still quite petite. Her face had sharpened and seemed much more mature to the average onlooker. Dylan knew better than the average onlooker. He could see the little turn up at the corner of her mouth that signalled she was planning something big and irritating and her hands were flicking absent-mindedly through a deck of cards which sent up an alarm in Dylan’s head to keep everything in his and Alma’s pockets in there.  
“You’re big,” Dylan said in replace of a greeting.  
“You’re old,” she replied with a charming smile. Dylan had told Alma everything he could remember, including all the little things that most people would consider small but he adored about people, even if it was an irritating trait. “Who’s she?”  
“I’m Alma,” Alma replied and Dylan spent the whole cab ride listening to catch up that was directed more towards his girlfriend than him. Dylan listened anyway and noted that Anna really had grown up. She was really quite striking now and her hand gestures were much smaller which Dylan was thankful for. When he had spent a year training her, he was constantly avoiding having his eye poked out by her giant gestures.  
As they arrived at the apartment, Dylan fished his keys out while Anna fiddled with her sleeve. Most people would have seen that as nervousness or excitement but Dylan saw it as normal. Anna was ADHD and struggled sitting still for any period of time. The Four Horsemen were still asleep, obvious from the snoring that was echoing from the bedrooms. Dylan was surprised when he walked into the kitchen and saw Jack, Henley and Danny eating cereal.  
“Is that all Merritt?” he asked incredulously as Alma showed Anna to her room. The others nodded with grins and Dylan sat down. A new chair had been added to the dinner table and another cushion added to the floor to show that a new member was expected. It was difficult to get a sofa to fit six people so Dylan, Alma, Merritt and occasionally Jack sat on the sofa while Danny, Henley and Jack (for the other part) sat on cushions at their feet.  
“Is she here yet?” Danny asked as he put his bowl on the side, along with Henley’s. Dylan nodded.  
“Alma is just showing her to her room,” Dylan replied and Jack took his bowl out to go watch cartoons. Dylan rolled his eyes. Jack may act older than he was but Dylan knew his heart had never grown up past six years old. Alma came in followed by a yawning Merritt. “Where’s Anna?”  
“Talking to Jack about some sort of cartoon,” Merritt said drearily.  
“Would you like a cup of coffee to brighten up your sad existence?” Danny asked bitingly and Merritt just nodded, in a little world of his own. Laughter sounded from the sofa and Anna and Jack had made up camp at the bottom of it, watching the screen intently and joking about it to each other.  
“She’s bigger than I expected,” Henley commented.  
“Bigger than I expected as well,” Dylan mumbled sadly. Alma smiled at him and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She smelt incredible and Dylan couldn’t help the kisses he planted on her neck.  
“Did you expect her to be the same little ten-year-old?” Merritt asked having finally woken up.  
“I guess so,” Dylan replied and he held Alma tighter. Once the show had ended, Jack and Anna turned their attention to the adults watching them.  
“’Ello,” Anna greeted and she smiled charmingly at them. Dylan was struck by how much she had grown. He realised he had missed most of the defining parts of Anna’s life. He hadn’t seen her start growing; her first performance that he had helped to orchestrate and he had even missed her finally growing into herself. She looked much more sophisticated than the awkward ten-year-old he had left and was now fully at ease with herself. She still looked like she was planning to get a dozen paintballs to throw at them but her emotions and thoughts were much more hidden.  
“’Ello,” Merritt replied and he bobbed his head as an attempt at respect. Anna mimicked the gesture with an air of mocking joy. “You’re good.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Did I miss something?” Jack asked, looking at the pair with a confused expression. Merritt sat down on the sofa and the others joined them, shuffling into their usual positions. Danny and Henley were a little far away from Jack and Anna and Danny wore a guarded look. Anna acted oblivious and was in a care-free conversation with Jack until Danny asked:  
“So, Anna, where are you from?”  
“London, England.”  
“What about your parents?”  
“Probably moved away so I can’t find them.”  
“Any siblings?”  
“I’m the youngest of five.”  
“What about pets?”  
“Almost all animals hate me.”  
“Any hobbies other than magic?”  
“I like pickpocketing.”  
Anna answered in a rapid fire mode, just as quick as Danny dished the questions out. Her hands fiddled with her omnipresent deck but her eyes never once left Danny’s face. She kept a cool confidence about her despite the glaring eyes of Danny scrutinising her.  
“Any medical history?”  
“I’m ADHD, dyslexic, short sighted and I have to wear a support on my left knee due to a bad sprain when I was six.”  
“What triggered the sprain?”  
“I was doing a routine in gymnastics and landed funny. My knee has never been the same again.”  
Dylan watched the exchange carefully. He was ready to step in the second Anna needed his help but she seemed to be handling the situation quite well. Alma sat with pursed lips. Dylan knew she didn’t like it when people were passive aggressive, she preferred it when people didn’t try to hide it with words and just said it outright.  
“Well, well, well; it looks as though I have managed to catch your new members as well as the original cast,” a very familiar voice said from the TV screen.


	3. Meetings

New Foes

 

They all stared as Arthur Tressler’s face appeared on the screen. He looked a little over-worked and he had gained a few more wrinkles over the space of the year but he still had the evil look of determination in his eyes.  
“Bonjour Mademoiselle Dray, Mr Rhodes and Miss Michaels; it is nice to finally see you. And my old friends the Horsemen; it is great to see you as well.”  
“What do you want?” Anna asked, not at all put off by how the man knew her name.  
“I just want to warn you all that I and Mr Thaddeus Bradley will be watching you all very closely and when we have enough information, we will reveal all of you to the world,” Arthur told them.  
“How did you get onto the TV?” Jack asked and he peered round at the back to check the wires.  
“Simple hackers, you haven’t got much security with your technology. I suggest you fix that right away. Toodle-loo.”  
“Who in this day and age says ‘Toodle-loo’?” Danny asked, perplexed.  
“People who were born in a different one?” Anna suggested and Danny gave her a tentative smile. “How did he hack the computers do you have all your security systems up?”  
“We might have a fire wall,” Henley said meekly.  
“Anybody can hack that, you need other things as well to put them off the trail and stuff like that. I’ll start on it now,” Anna told them and she walked off to her room.  
“Do you trust her with all of that?” Danny demanded from Dylan.  
“She was a very talented hacker when she was younger so she will know all of the trade secrets and how to block them. I trust her a lot, yes. But I already know her so I would. I know it will take some time for you all to adjust but this time next year I bet you won’t even remember what it was like to have only four of you.”  
The others made their way off in dribs and drabs until it was just Dylan and Alma again. She settled herself deeper into his arms and kissed just under his chin.  
“How did he know who we are?” she murmured.  
“He would know us because we worked the case against the Four Horsemen last year but I don’t know how he knew Anna,” Dylan answered and he rubbed the small of her back soothingly. Alma sighed happily and began to run her fingers through her hair. About half an hour later, everyone was jolted by Anna yelling from her room:  
“You didn’t even have a fire wall!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it was so short


	4. Chapter 4

Planning

 

“So if we do the first show in Paris, the second show in Athens and the final show in London during a four week period, we should have completed everything.”

Everyone else stared at Danny blankly as he finished the plan. They had decided what they were going to do four hours ago but Danny was making sure they all knew it off by heart. Jack and Anna had stopped paying attention to Danny in the first five minutes of him starting to talk. Henley had tried to hold up for her boyfriend’s sake but she had drifted off somewhere half way through the speech. Dylan and Alma were still trying to look interested but they were both completely zoned out in their minds. Merritt had fallen asleep before they had even finalised as a group what we were doing. 

“Wake up!” Danny yelled. Everyone jolted except from Merritt who continued to snore away. “How the hell are we supposed to wake him up?”

“We could hit him with a frying pan,” Jack suggested. Everyone smirked. 

“Let’s just leave him here for a bit and he can work it out for himself what is going on,” Henley sighed and they all made off on their separate ways. Jack and Anna sat in front of the TV, Henley and Danny very quickly made their way to Danny’s room, Dylan and Alma sat in the kitchen talking in hushed tones and Merritt continued to snore. 

“What do you think they’re talking about in there?” Jack asked Anna.

“Who knows,” Anna replied. The two pick-pocketers laughed and settled into their pillows. “Why do you think the Eye is giving us this task?”

“Maybe they have a shortage of magicians,” Jack suggested. Anna shook her head, making the onyx hairs fall into her face. She huffed them out of the way. 

“That wouldn’t be it. Maybe they need to make magic more popular again?”

“I think it is pretty popular given that last year 3.2 million Euros was donated to an audience.”

Alma walked into the room and settled on the sofa. The two youngsters sat by her feet and looked up. Alma was struck by how mature they looked. Neither were twenty yet but still had the hard look about them that showed that life had beaten them down. Alma wondered what the two had gone through to give them such a look. Merritt wandered into the room, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Anna gasped in fake shock. 

“It moves!”

“It can punch the raven girl,” Merritt murmured. 

“The raven girl can punch it harder,” Anna retorted and Merritt straightened up at the insult. 

“We shall see about that someday.”

“We shall see about what someday?” Dylan asked as he walked into the room and sat down next to Alma.

“Who do you think can punch harder, me or Anna?” Merritt asked. 

“Anna,” Dylan replied instantly. Everyone gaped at him. “I’ve been on the receiving end of one of them; it wasn’t very fun.”

“Does everyone know what their part in the show is?” Danny demanded as he walked towards them with his arm around Henley. Everyone nodded.

“I begin saying that we have a new and an old member joining us on the stage today,” Merritt began.

“Then Jack and I walk on stage and explain how Jack survived the crash whilst doing some card manipulation,” Anna continued. 

“We start the first trick by getting four volunteers on the stage and doing some small tricks on them and Merritt hypnotises them, pretending to help us,” Jack told them excitedly. 

“You and I come on Danny and finish the trick by making them do everything we say, including starting chucking things from the roof at the FBI and Interpol agents when they come for us.”

“Why will they come for us?” Jack asked. “We won’t do anything illegal in the show.”

“But you have done illegal things before so they’re still looking for you,” Dylan chimed in.

“And while you are all doing that, we will be wreaking havoc on the FBI and Interpol systems,” Alma finished off. 

“Now does everybody know where they are standing and when they should start doing the different tricks?”

Everyone else groaned at Danny and turned their attention to the TV which thankfully didn’t have Arthur Tressler’s face on it.


	5. Travelling

Travelling

Alma curled in a ball and hugged her stomach pathetically. Dylan rubbed her back soothingly and ghosted a hand over her own. Now of the others had noticed yet how sick she had been recently, of what they knew anyway.   
"Just a few more hours, baby. Just a few more hours," Dylan mumbled in her ear and Alma grunted in acknowledgement. A soft kiss was pressed to her neck before Dylan announced to the Horsemen:  
"We're nearly there so we need to be ready, especially for the FBI and Interpol."  
"Why will they be looking for us again?" Jack asked as he leant against Anna and she leant against him.   
"Because of what we did the last time," Dylan reminded them.   
"How will they know we're there?" Henley asked.   
"They won't but we need to be prepared for it," Dylan answered.   
"How long until we're going to see each other again?" Anna asked shyly.   
"Just a few weeks,"Alma reassured, patting the girl's shoulder.   
"Time will fly by, kids," Merritt told Jack and Anna and they groaned to each other. Danny and Henley held in their reservations but neither were looking forward to it. As the group got off the plane, they split up with Dylan and Alma getting into a cab together and the five slowly walking into the hotel. 

Dylan held Alma in the cab journey to their own hotel about an hour away from the horsemen's. The nausea had faded briefly and now she was just tired. Their hotel room had one large bed in the middle of it that Alma immediately fell onto.   
"Do you think they noticed?" she whispered as Dylan sat down and stroked the hair out of her face.   
"No, I don't think they did, baby."


	6. The Flu

The Flu

Dylan held Alma’s hair back as she vomited. A bad case of the flu had been ebbing at her strength all week and she had taken it hard. Her skin was burning up, it was almost too hard to touch. Dylan didn’t care about that. He would do anything if it could help Alma. The phone rang from the bed.  
“I’ll be right back, I need to check if it is the others but I’ll be right back sweet-heart,” Dylan murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He recognised Danny’s number immediately and picked up.  
“Hey,” Danny greeted hoarsely. “We’ve all got the flu except Anna who’s apparently got a flu shot.”  
“I’ve got one as well, which is why I’m alright but Alma is suffering quite badly,” Dylan replied hugging Alma softly. “How are you lot coping?”  
“We’ve been better but listening to a teenager talk about how her dad used to take care of her when she was sick before her parents split up is not fun,” Danny groaned. Dylan heard a brief scuffle being made on the other end and then heard Anna’s chirpy, much too loud for how close the phone is, voice.  
“Hello,” Anna greeted.  
“Hello, how are the others?”  
“They’re boring when they’re sick and I can’t believe that out of a group of seven, only two people have had their flu shot. It’s just unhealthy!”  
“Yes, now how long do you think till they’ll be better?” Dylan demanded impatiently.  
“A couple of days, probably. We will be more than ready for the show, I think Danny will shove the others on even if they’re vomiting,” Anna joked and she could hear Danny attempt to moan but end up coughing again. She hung up the line.  
Fiddling with her cards, she walked around the place, trying to avoid the smell of sickness that was slowly surrounding her. In truth, she was freaked. Ever since she was little, Anna had hated, truly hated, people who were unwell. It panicked her that she was the only one who could take care of the others. Dylan had sounded so calm on the phone, even with Alma there being very unwell.   
“You alright?” Merritt asked hoarsely, just a few steps away.   
“Yeah, just a little freaked out by sick people, that’s all. I can deal with it by myself, you don’t need to worry about me,” Anna muttered, attempting to side step him.  
“Look, I don’t know what you went through previously and I’m not asking you to tell me. Just know that we will worry about you, even if you don’t want us to.”  
Merritt walked off and started to cough again. Anna smiled at his gesture and, leaning against the wall, she slid down to the floor. It had been years since someone had gone out of their way to be nice to her, probably back when Dylan began teaching her magic. It was a good feeling, the best feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a little short, sorry. Comment if you would like to hear Anna's tragic backstory.


	7. The First Show

The First Show

Anna was pacing nervously, fiddling through a deck of cards that she had produce from who knew where. Her fingers were shaking slightly as she shuffled them but she still produced the tricks perfectly. Suddenly Merritt was being called to go on stage and start it. He gave them all a wink and bob of the head.   
The crowd’s cheering was deafening. Anna almost couldn’t hear herself think, which a good thing in her opinion was really. Jack and she moved along to their separate stage doors. She always did this before she got on stage, no matter how much she did it. Dimly, the memory of the incident of when she was twelve resurfaced but she buried it quickly.   
Anna hadn’t even noticed when they were walking on stage until everyone was screaming and cheering. Jack grinned at her and they began manipulating their decks in sync.   
“Hello!” Jack bellowed. The crowd bellowed back and Anna couldn’t help but laugh.   
“Now we know this is a little different so we’ll be starting with some debunking tonight!” Anna yelled.   
“Most of you probably thought I was dead. No, that’s a lie. You all thought I was dead. We’re gonna tell you how!”  
“We switched the cars without you realising it, just before the crash. Now before you get all worried, no there was nobody in the van; we are human after all. Jack here was never even in the car when it crashed!”  
Videos of how the planning had gone down were showing on the monitors, some of them utterly ridiculous. In time with each other, both Jack and Anna threw their decks in the air, watching happily as each card burst into flames and sparks. The crowd were loving it.   
Merritt appeared again on stage, a cocky grin adorning his face.   
“Now, since these two youngsters are so little, we figured that they might need some help with this next trick.”  
Anna went round and picked two volunteers, who then picked a random seat number each. As the volunteers walked down, they began explaining the trick.   
“We need four volunteers to help us with a few tricks. We’ll be needing one of you to stand next to Merritt, yes right there.”  
Merritt clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder, having finished hypnotising him. It went round like that until they were done. With a bow, all three disappeared in a plume of smoke, just as Danny and Henley appeared.   
Anna felt relieved to be off stage, but also a little disappointed. Merritt and Jack were already heading to the changing rooms to pick up their stuff and she went off to the one that she was sharing with Henley to prepare it. A new message was on her phone from Dylan, it read:  
Nice job, kid. I’m proud of you. You’ve worked so hard.  
A smile on her face, Anna hung all the necessary mirrors and fog machines around the place in obscure places. They would be found, they needed to be found after all, just not right away. The crowd were screaming with delight as Henley and Danny rushed down the stairs to greet them.   
“Is everything set up?” Danny demanded.   
“Of course, now let’s get going,” Merritt replied and they ran up to the roof. Lights were flashing all around it and the passers-by stopped to gape at them.   
“We’re the Five Horsemen and we’ll be back!”


End file.
